Xhonglu's Error
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by @d-pend.
Xhonglu's Error
* * *Out of an undifferentiated mass of thoughts, that seething cauldron of impressions, fears, and aspirations — comes a narrative grasping at the thin cords above: a sparkling multi-helical rope twining and untwining unto the far distance, where surely must repose some other form of intelligence higher, greater, more idealized.
The mass shuddered as it grasped, and organs insinuated themselves from the primordial liquid roughly as follows. Contrasting etheric viscosities separated into living layers. Ideas were born into colors. Colors were born into elements, elements into minerals, molecules into cells. Appendages laid the bricks for foundations of sentience through sense-gathering. Possibilities sparked and winked out. In timeless urgency a single hand ascended from the surface of the lake to grope about the quickly solidifying plane. As soon as it arose it quickly plunged back below as a weird tentacle seized upon it from below.
Xhonglu the cold moon was in the process of freezing the failed creation of heaven. Anti-light in cold aqua daggers was slicing frost into the puddle in laces of cruel elegance. Life was responding to the probability of nonlife with panicked writhing followed inevitably by stillness — every life but one. From the semifrozen morass an albino hand managed to flop itself onto a patch of hardened miniature berg composed of water and dead things.
"And what happened then to the hand that survived the destruction of Xhonglu that day?" queried the vivacious youth Xinlil. His father smiled and tapped first his own left palm, followed by his son's.
Author's Note
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I hope this post finds everyone well! As you may have noticed, I have been absent from posting for a couple of months. I often go through phases where, for whatever reason, I lose interest in keeping up my creative output. This time, I have been using my "time off" to engage in a variety of activities, including planning my upcoming move in about two weeks (heading to Nashville,TN to room with a college friend.) My main pursuit has been getting educated and preparing to run an online business that I am pretty excited about as it will enable me to help small business owners increase their revenue.
I have also been staying quite active creating neural-net processed images from my original photography under DPend and from public domain images over on NGaged. Now, I have hundreds of images that may serve as fodder for writing inspiration! I am hoping to start posting more regularly here again as I feel one life chapter coming to a close and another beginning.
Also, I've been indulging in a lot of blockchain gaming, primarily Lost Relics, which is an ENJ-backed game in pre-release sometimes described as a mix of Diablo and WoW. Of course I keep up with @DCity and have gotten a bit more into @Splinterlands again with the announcement of SPS and its concomitant airdrop.
It's been highly enjoyable to listen to a bunch of audiobooks in the background while playing Lost Relics. I have been consuming a hefty chunk of the entire catalog of Edgar Rice Burroughs, a legendary pulp fiction writer whose most famous created characters are Tarzan and John Carter. Whenever I read or listen to writing, I get the feeling I'm in the dojo passively training for my own creative writing pursuits, though it still remains to put it into practice!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention I started getting into indoor rock climbing recently. I became a little inactive during the latter half of 2020 and it's been a lot of fun to try a new hobby that requires some fitness! My sister has been climbing for a long time and encouraged me to start going with her and her husband, which I've been doing a couple of times a week for the past month.
What have you been up to this Summer? Let me know in a comment below. Take care and stay well!
Daniel P. / @d-pend
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creative writing by @d-pend
images created from public domain photos
using Deep Dream Generator.
That was a nice psychedelic post to re-familiarize us, or at least myself with you. I have missed your writings and poems in my long absence.
I reconfigured the way I curate so I can follow people I want to digest material from daily and logistically. So hopefully, I can better follow your talents and enjoy mind expanding poems, writings and now digital art?... From you! Way cool!
I like this one a lot from your site
I will start to explore this more in the future as I have bookmarked it!
So glad to see a post from you today!
Hey @dynamichivers, really appreciate the feedback and engagement! I'm curious, what's your new method for curating? I haven't even really grasped how things have changed since the last Hive HF to be honest!
Deep Dream Generator is a lot of fun, the account you looked at is the one where I process public domain images. This account is where I mostly process my own photos. On both accounts I put together compilation images as original filters along with using styles that others have uploaded to the site.
You know, it would be amazing if there was a blockchain version of Deep Dream where you could create neural network processing and earn crypto from it... hmmm....
So glad you enjoy the writing as well, I just need to re-energize that habit so it feels second nature again. I honestly feel my best when I am writing and sharing and, in the past, it was something that I invested a lot of time and energy into each day which was very rewarding. Here's to getting back to that ;-)
Take care!
I had 2700 followers on my @dynamicgreentk account. So hard to follow people. Since most of the people on my curation trail, @dynamicsteemians is not active and no one is really contributing anything in my group, which is okay, I decided to kind of just turn my feed into a Reader's Digest made a logo, gave out some hive basic income shares(@steembasicincome) and responded people's comments and BAM. The short of it.
I have about 80 people I follow, try to show support with engagement, give out HBI shares to who we vote on, reblog and just in general have a readers digest that is the coolest pen pal program ever really. Developing relationships around the world while earning crypto!
The Hives blockchain would have exponential value added with your talents as you feel more inspired of course.
I recently went through Neurofeedback brain training using infra low frequencies.
Not quite brain mapping but lots of data points for brain waves as they change during training and over time. I wonder if neural network processing can process these data points and make a picture with it.
Hi @d-pend,
I like the way your poetry speaks to us in a story. This summer has been hotter than usual in Korea and the government decided to give us a level four lock down. Most people are inside the air conditioning watching the Olympics. If anyone goes out it is get get a vaccine in the local clinic.
A lot has happened here on Hive with communities and tokens on Hive-engine. Welcome again to the community on Hive that is still alive and human, "proofofbrain". I always look forward to reading your updates. Please continue to post on https://www.proofofbrain.io or https://www.proofofbrain.blog and stay connected with artists here in the community.
The destruction of Xhonglu. Now there's a story to be told!
Nice to see a post from you again, buddy. I was beginning to think you abandoned us. Thanks for the update 😃 Sounds like you have a lot going on. Not much to update on here. I also have a lot going on, but it is much the same as it's been since my kids were born—that is to say, chasing after them.
Funny you mention Diablo. A few days about I reinstalled Diablo 3 on a whim and started to get back into it. As I browsed through the achievements I was somewhat shocked to see I got most of them in 2012 (or maybe it was 2013, I forget exactly now). That can't be right, can it? Has the game been out that long?? If Lost Relics is like that old friend, I'll give it a shot.
Love your style, and glad to see you posting again.
Hmm, indoor rock climbing… something I've thought about getting into for a long time, but never have. I do a lot of outdoor mountain stuff, though, you might like what I'm planning to post tomorrow :)
Cheers 🍻
Yo @brandt, appreciate the comment! I absolutely love the mountains, used to live in Boone, NC (Blue Ridge Mountains) for a couple years. Have missed them ever since I moved.
Will look forward to seeing your post, cheers :-)
Blue Ridge Mountains, nice. And somehow now I'm listening to John Denver. Classic.
It's gonna be an obnoxiously long one, won't be offended if you just skim for the pics ;)
I have not seen anything like this before. You are very creative and talented, both in digital art and the written word. NFT's next? :-) I will certainly be following your accounts going forwards. Intriguing.
Awesome work. Great to find you here on ProofofBrain.io .... It's where all the best Crypto Artists and Billionaire NFT Collectors are hanging out these days. I have lots of old Bitcoins to spend on Art.
I am really amazed by this artwork of yours it really shows great talent. I hope you stick more to this platform this time around. Looking forward to sering more great work from you.
Looks like you have a lot on your plate :)
Indoor rock climing ... thats the hardest!
Yeah, staying busy for sure! Hard to have a dull moment when you're in crypto these days to be honest xD
Climbing is definitely a huge challenge and that's a major part of why I've been enjoying it... I used to be quite awkward at it when I was a kid, partially due to fear of heights, so it's satisfying to break through those boundaries. :-)
Hope you've been doing well too @dalz!
Btw, shout out to @mineopoly for encouraging me to come back to post and engage in the #proofofbrain community ;-)
You are awesome. ♥
Beautiful piece of art, @d-pend. The art trumped the story for me😃
Looking at this piece, I think I really need to improve in my writing skills.. This summer have been into many things but now I think all I will do is to start learning from you😊...
Hey, @d-pend
So glad to see you're back.
I'll take another look at this and the next post.
Your writing always deserves careful reading.
I'm glad you have new exciting projects
Wish you the best.
Nashville was one of the few cities I visited when I was in the states. I went there for a children literature conference. Loved the live music on the bars.
My summer sucks so far (health not the best these days), but I am trying to make the best of it. Things here keep sinking to an all-time low so not much to expect.
That being said, we keep fighting for a way to get out of the country, and trying to be productive in the meantime.
Hey, awesome to hear from you @hlezama. That is so interesting that you visited Nashville. It is quite a nice place, though growing so rapidly in recent years that the road infrastructure can scarcely handle the traffic! Even in 2013 when I completed college it was getting quite bad. I moved in 2015, back to the Dallas Texas area in preparation for my South India visit. I also stayed in Nashville with a friend for a few months in 2016 while I was recording some music.
I had a friend in college whose parents told me stories of Nashville back in the 1980s — it was just a tiny backwater town in comparison.
Given how flat the area I grew up in is (North Texas) I really enjoy the hills and forests of Tennessee and the slightly cooler climate.
So sorry to hear about your health troubles and all the other implied horrors of the living situation you're in. I really hope you are able to find a way out. Please let me know if there is any way I can be of assistance... I think you had my Discord link at one time. But if not, it's @d-pend#5693. You can send me a message any time.
I am glad to hear you are focusing on being productive despite it all!
Peace.
Urban developments in the States is something incredible. Even though, that comes with all kinds of issues, in places like here, we actually wish for that kind of transformation.
Our towns tend to freeze in time and start to crumble after a while.
Thanks for your good thoughts. I have been exploring some job opportunities to go teach in the states. Some remote areas need teachers, but migration requirements can be a pain in the ass.
We are working on getting our passports and other docs in order just in case we get a positive response. This year we were not lucky.
Most people who leave do it the hard way. Long perilous journeys without any guarantee. Some lucky ones either have relatives somewhere else helping them or got jobs from here that "facilitate" the process.
Even with a job offer, if a Venezuelan heads to the states, they have to cross the Colombian border illegally (troches), and then be interviewed in the American embassies in Colombia (none available now in Venezuela). From there, once a visa is approved, then they can fly to the the States.
Also, I am curious — what do the prospects of actually getting out of your country look like? In other words, in what way(s) do people manage it? (If that's not something you're OK with posting here, I totally understand of course)